More than 375 hardy souls rallied for their
Religious Freedom at the Ann Arbor Stand Up For Religious Freedom Rally, held
on Saturday, Oct. 20th at Concordia University despite the cold
temperature and the threat of more rain, as part of the nationwide rally which
took place in over 140 communities in the United States. Following a pre-rally
prayer service and short March to the Rally Site lead by the Knights of Columbus
Color Corp, the enthusiastic crowd was welcomed by Professor Charles Schulz of
Concordia University, who also serves as pastor of St Thomas Lutheran Church in
Ann Arbor.
Emcee Kara Coulter, from Ave Maria Radio, honored
the Veterans, Clergy and Religious, then Coulter read a statement from Bishop Earl Boyea, of the Catholic
Diocese of Lansing, which reads, “Thanks for the invite but I will be at Cotton Prison that
morning. Please know however of my
prayers. Greet all there for me and tell them that I hope someone will visit me
when I am in prison when the restrictions on religious freedom are simply too
grave.”
Ron Edwards, Host of “The Edwards Notebook”, told the crowd,
“our freedoms come from God and we need to continue to remind our government
that they didn’t give us anything, that they are our servants.” Despite
everything that is currently happening, Edwards remains optimistic about the
future as he knows the end of the story, “God win and they don’t.” Ron closed by saying that “I must thank my
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for not only calling me into His army but for
allowing me to live, as I too was a potential abortion victim, but my birth
mother was persuaded to give me up for adoption. Thank God.”
Pastor Charles Schulz speaking on the root principle of
people of faith in a pluralistic society said, “we seek the good of society,
but within the limit of conscience, for conscience knows what true good is’. Schulz
continued, “Conscience will not abide that we do evil, even if other people
tell us that some greater good will come from it. There is no necessary
conflict between Church and State, but when State trespasses in matters of
heart and conscience the conflict necessarily arises.”
Cynthia
Kallgren, candidate
for the U.S. House representing the MI 12th Congressional District reminded us
of the words of Thomas Jefferson, who said, “No provision in our
Constitution ought to be dearer to man than that which protects the Rights of
Conscience against the enterprises of the civil authority.” Kallgren’s opponent is incumbent, John Dingill,
one of the chief authors of “obamacare”.
Suzanne
Abdalla, Director of the Catholic Urban Project thrilled
the audience with her sign.‘Keep Your Ovaries off my Rosaries’ which Abdalla
said is a direct response to the message the pro-abortion people have used for
years, ‘keep your rosaries off my ovaries.’
Included among the other presenters were
Pastor
Ted Jungkuntz from St Luke Lutheran Church, Father Ed Fride and Deacon Larry Randolph from
Christ The King Catholic Church , Sister Gail Lancaster from the Servants of
God's Love Community, Victoria
Criswell and Joe Lipa from U of M Students For Life, and Karen Walacavage from
Washtenaw County Right to Life.
Rally organizer, Sandie Weathers with Prolife
Action Network, introduced the six winners of the Ann Arbor Stand Up For
Religious Freedom Essay Contest. Junia Schulz, a kindergartener
and Daniela Schulz a fourth grader who both attend St. Paul Lutheran
School, Gianna
Schubert a 2nd grader who is homeschooled, Anna Schubert a 6th grader at Spiritus Sanctus
Academy, Kellie
Majcher a senior at Father Gabriel Richard High School and Tori Criswell a
junior at U of M, were all awarded cash prizes and invited to read their essay
at the rally. Second grader, Gianna Schubert told those
gathered, “I need to protect my religious freedom by praying and fasting.”
“We’ve
been appealing to President Obama all year to rescind the HHS Mandate,” said
spokesperson, Beth Smith, “but our words have fallen on deaf ears. Now we’re
calling on the voters of Ann Arbor, Washtenaw County and far beyond to defend
their religious freedom in the voting booth on Election Day.”
The Stand Up For Religious Freedom Rallies have drawn participants
from over 90 churches and over 80 cities and towns in Washtenaw County and far beyond.
